Chaos
by Empress Akitla
Summary: Eight new figurines throw the museum into chaos. Larry, Manny, Ellie, Diego, Crash, Eddie, and Buck must try to catch Kertosa while Sid watches Peaches. Neither one can come out good.


Note: The idea hit me then kinda left. Let's hope the spark comes back soon.

* * * *

Larry Daley used a crowbar to pry open the last wooden box. It was a Sunday so they had been unloading new exhibits for the Ice Age part of the museum. No one was at the museum now, except for Larry. The sun was nearly down and he wanted to get this box open. Inside was a furry figurine, much like Dexter, of a weasel like creature. It was nearly the size of a tiger. It was in a hunched over position, with its fur sticking up along its spine.

"Colorful little fella, aren't you?" Larry reached down and picked up the figurine, which was surprisingly light.

After setting it up on its display Larry looked it over more carefully. Its base color was light blue though it had dark blue on its upper side. Black swirls went down its back and it had a yellow underbelly with an orange stripe above it. It wore earrings made of teeth in its ears and wore a necklace with a hollowed out shell on it. It had a long tail that ended in a black tip and had spiky fur on top of its head that was black with dark blue tips. Black underlined its eyes and nose. A very odd creature it was indeed.

"Well, that does it," Larry placed his hands on his hips and looked around at his work.

Two mammoths were in the corner with a little baby. Two possums were perched on the female mammoth's back. A ground sloth was sitting on its display a little farther off. There was a saber-tooth tiger lying down in some shrubs and next to it there was a weasel with a leaf eye patch over its right eye.

"Larry, my boy! How are you tonight?" a familiar voice called.

"Teddy, is the sun down already?" Larry glanced at his watch then the new exhibits.

The wooly mammoths had begun to move and step off of their displays as had the saber-tooth. The sloth tripped and fell off of its stand. As for the weasel, it looked as if it was searching for something.

"Manny, where are we?" Ellie whispered.

"I don't know," Manny whispered back. He saw two men. One was sitting on a four legged creature. "You and Peaches just stay behind me."

"Peaches come back here!" Ellie reached out her trunk as the baby scampered off towards the men.

"Well will you look at that Larry, the child likes you," Teddy smiled as Peaches rubbed her trunk against Larry.

"But I don't think the parents like me," Larry raised his hands as the bull mammoth approached him.

"Peaches, come here sweetie," Manny ordered, not expecting the men to understand him.

"You can talk?" Larry raised an eyebrow.

"How'd you understand me?" Manny asked as he wrapped his trunk around his month old daughter.

"You're speaking plain English," Teddy said.

"You're both speaking plain animal," Manny argued.

"Look, who cares what we're all speaking," Ellie walked up behind her mate. "I'm Ellie and this is Manny. And our baby is Peaches."

"I'm Larry, and this is Teddy," Larry introduced Teddy and him.

"I'm Sid," the sloth said with a little bit of a lisp. He reached out his clawed hand.

"Um…hi," Larry shook his hand warily.

"I'm Diego," the saber-tooth stalked up to them.

"I'm Crash," the possum with a more pug nose answered.

"And I'm his brother Eddie," the other replied.

"Hey, 'as anybody seen my knife?" the weasel yelled as he disappeared in a box full of packing peanuts.

"That's Buck," Diego nodded to the packing peanuts flying out of the box.

"He's awesome!" The possum brothers announced.

"Is he looking for a knife that looks like a tooth?" Larry asked.

"Yeah, 'ave you seen it?" Buck zipped out of the box and up on Larry's shoulder.

"Yeah, it's right here," Larry pulled it out of his pocket.

"What were you doin' with it?" Buck snatched his precious knife out of Larry's hand.

"I wasn't sure which exhibit it went in," Larry shrugged his shoulders.

"Larry my boy, that figurine you just unpacked is gone," Teddy pointed to the empty stand where the colorful figurine had been.

"Huh, wonder where it went?" Larry didn't seem too worried.

Diego stalked forward and jumped up onto the platform. He sniffed where the figurine had been. His ears laid back and a snarl pulled at his lips.

"Kertosa! She was right here!" Diego snarled and jumped down, tracking where the creature had gone.

"That little…" Buck had run ahead of Diego, tracking Kertosa.

"Who's Kertosa?" Larry turned to the mammoths.

"She's a crazy person," Sid answered.

"I'm going to go help the boys track her down," Manny said as the possums took off after Buck.

"I'm coming too," Ellie stated firmly. "Sid, you watch Peaches."

"No problem!" Sid stumbled over towards the baby.

"We'll help you," Teddy said as he pulled Larry up onto his horse.

The group followed the two trackers around the museum for almost half an hour, until they came to the miniature figurines. Roman soldiers and western cowboys lay all over the place. Some were just unconscious while others would never be waking up again.

"What happened here?" Larry jumped down from the horse and immediately started searching for Octavius and Jed.

"Kertosa happened," Ellie whispered as she looked at the carnage.

Mean while, in a more secluded part of the museum, there was a fight raging on between two small people and a colorful creature. The creature's foot could easily crush both the Roman leader and cowboy.

"Get back beast!" Octavius struck out with his sword.

The beast dipped her head down and snagged his cape on one of her lower fangs while she grabbed Jed by his feet.

"Hey, don't man-handle me!" Jed yelled as all the blood rushed to his head.

Back in the miniature figurine exhibit, Diego and Buck were having a hard time picking up Kertosa's scent amongst all the other smells. Larry didn't find the Roman or the cowboy he was looking for either, though one of the soldiers did tell him that the beast had taken off with about five from both sides. Octavius and Jed were among them.

"We can't find her scent," Diego's head and ears were drooped.

In the Ice Age Exhibit, Sid was keeping his eye on Peaches who was starting to get bored. Twice she'd tried running off. The sloth couldn't think of anymore ways to keep her entertained.

"I need help," Sid slumped against the wall.

A small creature ran through the doorway, carrying rubber keys. It was a monkey. It was Dexter.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Sid jumped up when the monkey ran to Peaches.

Sid stopped when he heard and saw the baby giggling at Dexter's antics. Good, he could keep her busy for a while.

Back at the miniature figurine exhibit, the group was trying to figure out which way Kertosa took off with Octavius and Jed.

"I can't get anything," Eddie crossed his arms.

"Me neither," Crash leaned up against his brother.

"Well, what're we going to do?" Larry asked.

Kertosa skidded on the floor and ducked as a skeleton of a T-Rex stepped over her. The two small people swung from her jaws as she ran and slid on the slick floors. She stopped in front of a hallway and glanced down the other directions.

"There she is!" Ellie yelled and pointed with her trunk.

Kertosa froze on the spot for a second.

"Hey Gigantor! Mind giving us a hand?" Jed shouted.

"She's got Octavius and Jed!" Larry took off running after her with the others following close behind.


End file.
